Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare focuses on the variation of modern warfare as an infantry soldier by allowing the player to control soldiers in a vast number of different scenarios, straying away from the constant "at eleven" action of previous Call of Duty titles and allowing for both heavy intensity fire fights and slower paced drama styled intensity. The series' move to modern warfare has also introduced a variety of new modern weapons and technology to be introduced to the Call of Duty franchise. Such showcased weapons and attachments include M203 grenade launchers, and the AN/PEQ-2 Target Pointer for use in conjunction with night vision goggles, silenced MP5SD submachine guns, and the FGM-148 Javelin portable anti-tank guided missile among many others.
THE PLOT
The Russian ultranationalist, a man by the name of Iran Zakhaev, is set on returning his homeland to the times of the Soviet Union by revolting against the current government and seizing a nuclear weapons stockpile. Zakhaev has the support of several rogue divisions of the Russian army, but he knows the United States would never allow this to happen and so funds a coup in the Middle East, organized by his ally Kahled Al-Asad, to draw attention away from Russia. The British and U.S. governments discover the plot while monitoring Zakhaev's recent activities, and quickly initiate a police-action to quell the uprisings in both regions. During the conflict, a Russian nuclear weapon is detonated by Al-Asad's forces in the capital city of the Middle Eastern region, catching the invading Marine forces in the blast radius. Although Jackson initially survives the crash of his Sea Knight helicopter, he later succumbs to his injuries and dies. Al-Asad, however, escaped to one of his strongholds in Azerbaijan, but is later executed by Captain Price when he and his SAS squad learn that Zakhaev supplied Al-Asad with the bomb.
The British SAS squads in Russia later attempt to capture Zakhaev's son to learn of his father's whereabouts, but he shoots himself at the last second. This incurs Zakhaev's wrath, and he launches two ICBMs in desperation at the American East Coast. A joint strike force of the SAS and the USMC breaches the missile launch center, and is able to abort the missile impacts. During their escape, Zakhaev and his troops intercept them, and begin executing any survivors of the initial strike. Griggs is killed trying to pull Soap to safety and Gaz is executed by Zakhaeav. They are on the verge of executing Soap, but are distracted by the arrival of a loyalist helicopter. At this moment, heavily wounded Captain Price slides his pistol to Soap. Upon shooting Zakhaev and his guards, the Russian Loyalist reinforcements arrive, but Soap is the only confirmed survivor of the escape, although the end cutscene fails to show if Price is dead or alive, leaving it open to the player to guess. After the final cutscene, a short news message plays, mentioning "nuclear missile tests" in Central Russia and some "leadership struggles" between the Russian government the ultranationalist party, and then reports on the failed attempt to locate a Russian cargo ship lost at sea (that the SAS infiltrated in the Prologue), which may indicate that the police actions in Russia were conducted in secret, away from public knowledge. After the credits roll the player is also given the chance to play through an airplane hostage-situation epilogue mission, Mile High Club.
